Page 421 - Vseživljenjsko učenje kot temelj trajnostne družbe

Predictors of Preschool Teachers’ Environmental Activities in Kindergarten

Although there is formal alignment with the competencies defined by UN-
ESCO (2012; 2017) – such as critical thinking, collaboration, normative orien-
tation, and reflexivity – these competencies have not yet been fully devel-
oped in practice to support continuous, reflective, and systemic action. This
gap can partly be attributed to insufficient institutional support for building
such competencies through professional education, ongoing training, men-
torship, and reflective practice.
Additionally, broader educational policies often reduce competencies to
a set of technical skills, stripping them of their ethical and value-based
dimensions (Biesta, 2010). Education for sustainable development cannot
achieve genuine transformation if preschool teachers are merely seen as im-
plementers of predefined programmes. For this reason, competencies must
be understood as dynamic, context-dependent, and rooted in everyday in-
teractions and professional judgments (Pavlović Breneselović, 2014; UNESCO,
2017). The current frequency and nature of environmental activities in kinder-
gartens underscore the need to strengthen teachers’ capacities through
both policy measures and practices that promote professional autonomy,
reflexivity, and ethical engagement.

Conclusion
Theaimofthispaperwastoexplorethekeyfactorsinfluencingthefrequency
of preschool teachers’ implementation of environmental activities in kinder-
gartens. Within this framework, several potential predictors of teachers’ en-
gagement in environmental initiatives were analysed. The findings offer a
valuable foundation for designing and implementing professional devel-
opment programmes aimed at enhancing teachers’ environmental compe-
tencies and promoting environmentally responsible educational practices.
While the results highlight the significant impact of environmental skills on
teaching practices, they also underscore the need for further research to
identify additional factors that may support more effective implementation
of sustainability-based education. A deeper understanding of these factors
can inform educational policies and programmes that empower preschool
teachers to act as true agents of change in environmental and sustainability
educationinSerbia.
The overall research findings indicate that preschool teachers demon-
strate a high level of awareness regarding the importance of environmental
education, particularly through verbal and emotional approaches to foster-
ing environmental awareness in children. However, there remains consider-
able room for improvement in the implementation of interactive, practical,

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